MVN: Most Valuable Network

Of the American League's dozen worst OPS's last season (among players with at least 400 plate appearances), four belonged to members of the Oakland Athletics.  Bobby Crosby's .645 mark was the worst of the four, but fellow infielder Jack Hannahan's .647 showing was almost equal in putridity, and Daric Barton and Emil Brown were not much better.  Crosby, for his part, had an excuse: he adequately manned a key defensive position as the A's starting shortstop.  Hannahan -- who played 126 games at third-base for Oakland and another ten at first -- on the other hand, provided little offense from positions that mandate quite a bit of it.

The average American League third-baseman logged a .266/.337/.430 line this season, and mashed 19 homers in 600 at-bats.  Compare that to Hannahan's numbers: .218/.305/.342 with nine homers in 436 at-bats (roughly 12 when translated across a full season, assuming 600 at-bats), and you'll find that he was closer to the Mendoza line than the average BA pace, while lagging well behind in OBP and SLG.

The 28 year-old former Minnesota Golden Gopher also struck-out in 30 percent of his at-bats, putting him on a disastrous 180-whiff pace (again assuming 600 at-bats over a full season), which would've ranked second only to his teammate Jack Cust in the AL.  And considering that Cust also supplied 33 homers and walked 111 times, his whopping 197 strikeouts would still have been far more palatable than 180 from Hannahan.    

As the key member of Oakland's hot corner staff -- which also included Donnie Murphy, Brooks Conrad, and Jeff Baisley this season -- Hannahan was chiefly responsible for the A's receiving minimal contributions (their .659 aggregate OPS was more than 100 points off the AL average .767) from what is generally viewed as one of the three most important hitting positions on the diamond.  And, hence, he deserves a healthy share of the blame for Oakland finishing last in the junior circuit in runs scored and team OPS.

With that, I present the dubious 2008 MVN AL Mario Mendoza award to Oakland Athletics' infielder Jack Hannahan.